Reduce The Pressure

If an eye exam reveals you have high pressure in your eyes, the good news is there are methods that may help to reduce it.  This is particularly important if you’ve developed glaucoma, a common eye disease that affects our ageing population more each year and with which high eye pressure goes hand in hand.

Left untreated, glaucoma can lead to blindness.  In fact glaucoma is the second largest cause of blindness worldwide, and it’s a condition we should be more aware of.

What is high pressure exactly?

High pressure can damage vision by affecting the optic nerve. This is Glaucoma.  In some people, the high pressure hasn’t yet caused damage to the optic nerve but increases the chances of damage occuring. This is known as Ocular Hypertension. Both are silent conditions with no physical signs such as red eye or pain. So to detect them before your vision is badly damaged, it’s necessary to visit your eye care professional for a test.

If you picture your eye as a globe inflated by pressure, you can better understand why high eye pressure should be monitored. Pressure that is too high or that continues to increase exerts a force within your eye’s interior that can cause damage to the eye’s delicate optic nerve.

Elevated intraocular pressure is a concern in people with ocular hypertension because it is one of the main risk factors for glaucoma. High pressure inside the eye is caused by an imbalance in the production and drainage of fluid in the eye.

How it’s detected

During a comprehensive eye exam, your eye care practitioner will measure your eye pressure – known as intraocular pressure – and compare it with normal levels.  An eye pressure reading of higher than 21 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) is abnormally high.

Special instruments called tonometers are used to measure eye pressure painlessly.

Ways to treat high pressure

Luckily, there are lots of ways to reduce eye pressure. These range from eye drops through to various types of surgery. Eye drops can reduce the production of fluid within the eye or increase its drainage. There is also a laser treatment that can be performed in the clinic to increase fluid drainage.

Many different types of surgery have been invented to reduce eye pressure. Some have been around for many years (for example, trabeculectomy) and others are relatively new. A number of minimally-invasive glaucoma surgery techniques are available. These are designed to lower eye pressure more quickly and safely than traditional glaucoma surgery.

Because of the bewildering array of options, we’d recommend consulting an eye specialist who is expert in glaucoma.